On Sunday, September 27th, IPI held its Tenth Ministerial Dinner on the Middle East in its Trygve Lie Center for Peace, Security, and Development. The working dinner saw the participation of foreign ministers, United Nations officials, heads of humanitarian agencies, and other high-level representatives from the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and beyond.

The working dinner began with a keynote presentation by World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, Hafez Ghanem, who briefed the participants on the bank’s new strategy in the MENA region. It was followed by a discussion on the crises in the Middle East and their global consequences.

The dinner was hosted jointly by IPI President Terje Rød-Larsen and Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates.

Other attendees included the Foreign Ministers of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates.

Also in attendance were the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, the US Under Secretary for Political Affairs, and the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Humanitarian groups present included the International Red Cross, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UN High Commission for Refugees, and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd, former Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, and the former Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Yasser Abed Rabbo were also among the participants.

The working dinner was held under the Chatham House rule of non-attribution.